Why I'm marching against the war in Iraq

In September I joined tens of thousands to protest a war that to many veterans was a broken promise that we'd never have a war like Vietnam again.

It'll be three years and hundreds of thousands of lives shattered by death and maiming of minds and bodies on both sides of the globe. The dead have the grave benefit of being put to rest but leave our parents, children, significant others and friends who will have a vacant spot they are supposed to have filled with remaining years of a loved one.

As our democracy erodes here in the US, as hundreds of billions, if not over one or more trillion dollars are the cost, as lost opportunities to better care for our middle class, our youth and elderly are squandered, as we redirect our angst often selfishly on others (immigrant and other rights and equality issues), it becomes abundantly clear, my personal journey began by protesting this president and his war of lies and greed. He has betrayed his oath of office and our Constitution.

I will march in Newport, Providence and Boston. As a Marine veteran, I will be speaking for my brothers and sisters who are languishing in some sort of purgatory of honorable duty on behalf of an administration that dishonors them with inadequate protection and poor leadership on Capitol Hill.

I put my professional career and large family on hold because I asked a basic question. "What would one life be worth if it was saved by my acts of conviction and measured defiance?" So the house is mortgaged and I put my billboard "Be Patriotic Impeach Bush" up. I have been chastened by the Democratic Insiders, challenged by some Greens and ridiculed by the GOP right wing as I campaign for US Senate. The hardest part is so few people do more than share an "atta boy" and I wonder just how badly things have to impact each one of us before we again become united for the safety and protection of our communities and countrymen? How many times does somebody does nothing before actually acting on their own?

Have we all become so used to becoming spectators because we have time to watch tv, go out for a meal or lounge, but to regain our country's future, we're arm chair quarterbacking both sides of the aisle and doing what exactly ourselves? JFK and many great men and women got it right about asking not what our country will do for you..... What is a more noble cause than saving a fellow countrymen's life? I can't think of one.

Carl
Sheeler for US Senate
www.carlsheeler.com

Democrats, not aristocrats.

The US seems more alienated and atomized than it did decades ago. To me, it's all about getting together with like-minded people and doing something. It's not easy.

There was an activist office in my town, really opened by the work of one couple, with some help. At the time, I had no money so couldn't help with the rent. He ran for elected office, so I went around trying to get people to sign the petition to get him on the ballot. But so many people were immigrants, it was very hard to get any signatures, most of the people I talked to couldn't vote. He did get on the ballot, and got into the local newspapers and debates, but he lost the election (which we expected anyhow, it was a longshot to begin with). Eventually the office closed down due to lack of participation and money. While they are commited, I do think they made some mistakes - they are unreliable in returning calls, and also I don't think their office's focus was broad enough - if they had engaged with everyone in the community, maybe it would still be around.

I also worked at a bookstore in the city where people put up fliers, or leaflets of events happening. People come by to find out what is going on. One good thing is it is self-funding - the rent is paid by the people who buy books and magazines. A few months ago, one guy began putting a lot of communist stuff up, and then there were big fights over that, which resulted in not just him but several people leaving. The problem was not just the communist guy, but another guy who was progressive but virulently anti-communist. They fought, and volunteering at the bookstore became less fun, and people left.

Even with a small group of people, working together can be difficult. It is not easy to get a core of 5 or 6 people working in an office, with maybe 10-15 people with a little less involvement, and then several multiples of that peripherally involved, in terms of doing something - an election campaign, organizing workers, whatever. It is a fragile thing, very easy to disturb, and I have seen these things fall apart more than once now, and people around longer have seen it happen more than me. And without these groups, it's even harder to get involved, to get campaigns going and so forth.

Thank you Carl!

We need to march on DC, and keep on marching until we are in the politician's faces and in the way to their three martini lunches.

And YOU are doing exactly what is needed, we have to take back our checks and balances, take back our democracy from the inside out.